Guest identification apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and method to rapidly check the identity of a person against known identifying information prior to permitting that person to charge incurred expenses to the account of a known person. The apparatus and method also provide a system for rapidly recording charged expenses, after checking identity, as being incurred by the known person. The system is particularly useful in hotels and motels where a guest or other known person is permitted to incur expenses at various locations, such as a restaurant, where that person may not be known to the cashier. The person who wishes to make a charge provides the cashier or other employee with his name and other identifying information such as a room number or account number and, prior to recording this charge against the account of the person so identified, the cashier or other employee is provided with a visual display of correct descriptive information for comparison. If the information given by the charging guest is correct, the charges incurred are then recorded against the account of the known person.

United States Patent Comeau [451 Jan. 18, 1972 Primary ExaminerMaynardR. Wilbur Assistant Examiner--William W. Cochran [7 2] lnventor: CharlesP. Comeau, Oreland, Pa. Anomey Lal-son Taylor and Hinds [73] Assignee:Captain International Industries, Ltd.,

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed. Nov. 10,1969 Apparatus and method to rapidly check the identity of a personagamst known identlfymg lnformatlon prior to permlttmg [21] PP 875,146that person to charge incurred expenses to the account of a knownperson. The apparatus and method also provide a 52 us 01. ..235/61.7 B,340/152 R, 340/173 CR, g f f i expenses x OM49 R 1 entity, as emgrncurreyt e nown person. e system is [51] Int Cl G06k 15/00 particularly useful1n hotels and motels where a guest or other 58 Field of Search ..340/173CR, 172.5, 152, 149, ff a i igz z i f 340/149 A, 324.1, 172.5; 235/6L7B, 61.7 a may 6 known to the cashier. The person who wishes to make a l56] References Cited charge provides the cashier or other employee withh1s name and other identifying mformatlon such as a room number orUNITED STATES PATENTS account number and, prior to recording this chargeagainst the account of the person so identified, the cashier or otherem- 3,308,439 3/1967 Tmk et al ..340/ 172.5 ployee is provided with avisual display f correct descriptive 3,335,407 8/1967 Lauge at "340/1725information for comparison. If the information given by the 3,396,3778/1968 "340/324 A charging guest is correct, the charges incurred arethen 3,407,387 10/1968 Loosche" recorded against the account of theknown person. 3,439,339 4/1969 Parks 340/149 A 3,513,298 5/1970 Riddleet al ..340/l49 7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures MEMO RY D E V I C E 25 2s 2825 26 28 k k I V s 6 2 CRT CRT CRT KEY BOARD 2 11 3 21 5 27 8 I KEYBOARD LKEY BOARD I KEY BOARD I PRINT OUT 1 T 7 IO RECEPTION SATELLITESTATIONS CHECK OUT STATION STATION PATENTEB JAM 8 I972 SL636; 3 l 5 sum1 0F 2 mvnmn CHARLES P. COMEAU BY 0/25 47% ATTORNEYS GUESTIDENTIFICATION APPARATUS AND METHOD This invention relates to anapparatus and method for checking the identity of a person prior torecording charges incurred by that person as being incurred bya knownperson.

In another aspect the invention relates to such apparatus and methodemployed in a hotel, motel, or the like wherein charges are incurred bypersons who are usually unknown to the cashier or other employee havingthe responsibility of approving a credit transaction.

In a hotel, motel, or the like, hereinafter referred to as hotel," it iscustomary to permit persons, such as registered guests, to charge thecost of services to their account'which is usually identified by a roomnumber. The credit transactions are usually approved by a waitress,cashier, or other hotel employee to whom the guest is usually unknown.While the system is essentially necessary to maintain proper customerrelations, it has led to two principal disadvantages: errors inrecording the charges against the guest account; and loss of revenue dueto guest checkout prior to the time that the incurred expenses have beenforwarded to the check out cashier. These problems are quite severe andconstitute major cost factors, particularly in larger hotels of, forexample, at least 200 rooms. While the latter problem is aggravated bythe guest who is careless in regard to incurring late charges, theproblem is generally severe even where guests in good faith believe thattheir late charges are included in their statement at checkout. This isdue to the fact that a considerable time may lapse between the credittransaction and checkout. The former problem is a general problemassociated with all credit transactions and can certainly lead to amajor loss of revenue, particularly where the hotel employees are notwell trained.

With the advent of data processing, it has been proposed to overcomethese problems by rapidly conveying financial data to the checkoutcashier to avoid loss of revenue due to late charges. While this solvesthe time delay problem, it does not deal with the guest identificationproblem. Attempts have been made to incorporate further identificationinformation into the system. Most notably it was proposed to record thefirst three letters of a guest's surname against a room number and allcharges were recorded against accounts identified in this manner.However, due primarily to the presence of several guests in a room andto difficulty in reading the first three letters of a signature, thissystem resulted in a large number of rejects." That is, in a largenumber of instances, when a waiter or other employee used the roomnumber and letter identification, the system frequently indicated thatthe information was incorrect because of an error made by the employee,and not by any error made by the guest. In this instance, the system didnot record the charge to any account leading to a loss in revenue.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus andmethod for rapidly inquiring into the identity of a person and forrecording financial data concerning charges incurred by that person inthe financial records of a known person after making that inquiry. It isa further object of the invention to provide such a system which furtherprovides a visual display of financial information to check theaccuracyof such financial information prior to recording thereof.

These and other objects are achieved according to the invention in amanner which will be clear from the following detailed descriptionincluding the drawings in which FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view ofapparatus according to the invention; and

H6. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a satellite station keyboard shown inless detail in FIG. 1.

With reference to the drawings, a typical system according to theinvention includes a memory device I, a reception station 2 including akeyboard 3 and associated visual display device 4, such as a cathode-raytube, one or more satellite stations 5 which include cathode-ray tubevisual display devices 6 and associated keyboards 7, and a check out, orcashier, station 8, including a keyboard 9 and print out device l0.

The memory device 1 can be any electronic device of conventional type orthe mechanical or fluidic equivalent thereof. Electronic devices arepreferred because of their superior speed. There are several suitableelectronic types available including magnetic, plated wire, core memory,and semiconductor memory types. The magnetic types are preferred andinclude the magnetic disc, drum, tape and wire types and of these themagnetic disc type is preferred. The memory device functions as aninformation storage means to store descriptive information concerning aperson and to record financial charges incurred by that person.

When a person checks into the hotel, he provides certain descriptiveinformation usually including his name and that person then becomes a"known person as that term is used herein. The term is thus not used in'an absolute sense of requiring actual knowledge of the identity of theperson. The known person is assigned to a room and the room number isusually also used as descriptive information to identify that person.

Descriptive information concerning the known person is then conveyed tothe memory device at the reception station which is conveniently at theregistration desk, by means of a keyboard 3 after first displaying thisinformation on a visual display device 4, such as a cathode-ray tube,electronically associated with the keyboard. The visual display isrepresented as arrow 11. The visual display device 4 provides a means ofchecking the accuracy of the descriptive information before thatinformation is conveyed into the memory device 1. After the correctdescriptive information is visually displayed, it is conveyed to thememory device in the conventional manner as indicated by arrow 12 afterwhich the information is retrievable.

The keyboard 3 located at the reception station is conveniently arrangedas a conventional typewriter and has numberkeys and letter keys foreachletter of the alphabet. The keyboard may also be provided withfinancial data capability such as the U.S. system of dollars and cents.The station is also provided with conventional switches, convenientlymounted on the keyboard, to activate the visual display device 4 and toconvey the displayed information to the memory device. The receptionstation may also be provided with satellite station capability whichwill be discussed below.

The hotel guest normally charges hotel services such as restaurantservices, by providing descriptive information, such as his name androom number, either orally or in writing, to a waiter, cashier, or otherhotel employee. This is usually done at a location remote from theregistration desk, although it may be done at the registration deskparticularly in a small hotel. In this event, the reception station isconveniently provided with the functions discussed below in connectionwith satellite stations 5.

Each of the remote stations where such charges are incurred is providedwith a satellite station 5 according to the invention. These remotelocations include restaurants, bars, valet shops, barber shops,florists, and the like. Each satellite station 5 includes a keyboard 7and an associated visual display device 6 such as a cathode ray tube.

A person incurring a charge at a remote location, such as a restaurant,is usually unknown to the waiter, cashier, or other hotel employee oremployees and will be referred to herein as an unknown person. The termis thus not used in the limited sense of a person who is actuallyunknown to the hotel employee. When a charge is incurred, the unknownperson gives descriptive information to enable the hotel employee torecord the charge against his account. This information may be inwriting or oral and may be of a natural type such as name, address, roomnumber, account number, or the like, or an arbitrary type such as aspecial identification tag, key, or the like. It is a feature of thepresent invention that the descriptive information can be entirely ofthe natural type thereby eliminating the requirement for imposing anyobligation upon the guest to have any special identification on hisperson. It is a further feature of the invention that this descriptiveinformation can be given orally by the unknown person and need not be inwriting.

ln the usual case, the unknown person will be required to provide hisname and room number. The hotel employee then operates the satellitestation 5 to inquire into the identity of the unknown person and, aftermaking that inquiry forwards the financial data concerning the chargesincurred into the financial records into the record of the known personidentified by name and room number. The keyboard 7 can be of anyconventional type but it preferably has an arrangement shown in FIG. 2.This arrangement includes a guest identification section 13 and afinancial data section 13 (a).

The operator, a waiter, cashier, barber, etc., as the case may be, firstutilizes the guest identification section [3 to retrieve from the memorydevice 1 stores descriptive information conceming a known guest. Atypical case would be a restaurant charge of $17.00 for the following:Food $l0.00, Beverage $4.00, Tax $0.70, Tip $2.30, total $17.00, fourpeople served, check signed A. Jones, Room 834. The operator actuatesthe keys 8, 3 and 4" of section 13 of the keyboard in sequence and thenactuates the recor key 14 to retrieve information concerning the guestor guests registered in room 834. The information retrieved can be anyconvenient information previously given by the known person assigned toroom 834 upon registration. It is generally sufficient to obtain thenames of each of the guests registered in that room since suchinformation is routinely given upon registration. Further identificationcan, of course, be provided and further information can be required tobe given by the unknown person. The retrieved information isautomatically displayed on the visual display device 6 and is easilycompared with the information given by the unknown person. In the eventthat the two pieces of information do not correspond, the operator makesa further inquiry either of the unknown person or, preferably, withinthe data-processing system. The latter feature may take several formsbut it is preferred to include an alphabetical list capability at thesatellite station. To this end, the memory device is provided with thecapability of storing an up to date list, in alphabetical order, of allguests registered in the hotel. The list is retrievable, either whollyor in part, at the satellite station by actuating a key, not shown, tovisually display same on the visual display device 6. This furtherinquiry will show that the patron has given the wrong room number orthat the records show no such person registered. Where the informationgiven by the unknown person corresponds to that visually displayed forroom 834, or when that information has been corrected to correspondthereto, the unknown person is presumed to be the known person and thesatellite station is then used to forward the financial data to thememory device as a charge incurred by the known person. In the deviceillustrated this is accomplished by actuating key 15 followed by keys 8,3" and 4," which automatically erases the retrieved descriptiveinformation previously displayed and redisplays the room number. In theevent that more than one guest is registered in room 834 each guest maybe given an arbitrary identification symbol such as A, B, etc., in whichcase this information is included in the displayed descriptiveinformation and is redisplayed by actuating the appropriate key 16.Error key 17 is used to correct any operator errors in visuallydisplaying this information.

The operator next tabulates the financial data. In the example giventhis is accomplished by actuating: "covers" key 18, followed by key 4;food key 19 followed by keys l," and 000"; beverage key 20 followed bykeys 4" and 00; tax" key 21 followed by keys 7" and 0; pay out" key 22followed by keys 2," 3 and 0"; and the total key 23 which automaticallytotals the figures entered. The entire transaction is displayed on thevisual display device 6 in the manner keyed and the display provides anopportunity to check the accuracy of the financial data prior torecording same as an expense against Mr. Jones in room 834. Error key 23is used to correct any operator errors in effecting the visual display.Key 23 is of conventional type and may include a plurality of keyshaving different functions such as line erase, character erase, totalerase, etc., and error key 17 can have similar capability. Once thefinancial data has been visually checked for accuracy, it is conveyed tothe memory device 1 by actuating record key 24.

In FIG. 1, line 25 indicates the inquiry made to retrieve descriptiveinformation from the memory device and line 26 indicates the display ofthat descriptive information on the display device 6. Line 27 indicatesdisplay of the financial data and line 28 indicates recording thereof inthe memory device.

The satellite stations are also provided with the capability of handlingother transactions such as cash, credit card, city ledger, and others,by means of keys 29-32. The city ledger account is handled in much thesame way as the accounts of registered guests except in this instancethe patron gives his account number or other conventionalidentification. This is compared with the descriptive infon'nationconcerning the known person holding the account in the same manner asindicated above in connection with the registered guest. It isconvenient to use account numbers which do not conflict with roomnumbers. The financial data is conveyed to the account of the known cityledger account holder in the same manner as indicated above in the caseof the registered guest except that city ledger key 31 is activatedrather than room charge key 15.

For cash transactions, the satellite station is provided with a cashdraw and the financial data is displayed and recorded in the memorydevice in the manner indicated above except that cash key 27 is actuatedrather than key 15. In this instance, of course, the device is not usedto identify the patron. It will be readily apparent, therefore, thatwhile the device has the capability of making a customer identification,it is not necessary to go through this sequence and thus the financialdata can be charged directly to the account of a registered guest orcity ledger account holder when the customer is actually known to thewaiter or other hotel employee.

A credit card transaction is handled similarly to a cash transactionexcept that, if desired, the financial data can be charged to differentaccounts, such as American Express, Diners Club, etc., by providingadditional keys for these accounts or by assigning a code number foreach. The financial data is then conveyed by first actuating key 30followed by the code key or keys in section 13 which can operate tovisually display the code or, preferably, the name of the account. Thefinancial data is forwarded to the memory device in the usual mannerfrom which it can be retrieved on a total basis, an account basis, or inany other desired manner.

The keyboard can also be provided with the capability of handling othertypes of accounts as indicated by blank key 32.

The illustrated keyboard includes a financial data section typical for arestaurant service. Keys [8-22 cover the usual items and the keyboardcan be provided with other items indicated by blank key 33. Satellitesprovided in other locations would include items relevant to thatlocation.

When a registered gust checks out, the cashier utilizes keyboard 9 toretrieve an up to date financial record of all charges against theaccount of the person checking out. The station can also be providedwith a guest identification capability including a visual display devicesuch as a cathode-ray tube to avoid errors in checking out procedures,particularly where the guest does not return a room key when checkingout. The request for the financial information is indicated as line 34in FIG. 1. The financial information is conveyed, as indicated as line35, to a print out device 10 of conventional type. The device functionsto convert electronic information retrieved from the memory device 1into hard copy, preferably alpha numeric hard copy. A type-out device isconveniently used, although other print out systems employingxerography, thermography, etc., can be used. While the checkout stationis shown as remote from the reception station, a single station can beprovided with both functions and this is preferred in a smaller hotel.The checkout station can also be provided with full satellite capabilityin which case it can be utilized both as a satellite station forservices rendered in the vicinity thereof as well as a checkout station.

While the memory device has been described as having functions of guestidentification and entering financial data into certain accounts, it isto be understood that the device can be provided with a host ofadditional functions such as those which would be useful in management.For example, the device could be provided with means to retrieve thetotal amount of revenues for food, for beverages or for any otherdesired category. The device can also be provided, of course, withcapability of storing inventory information or other information usefulto management.

As mentioned above, the device can be provided with means to retrieveall or portions of an alphabetized list of registered guests. This is ofsubstantial assistance in a telephone operator station. The operatorwould be provided with a keyboard to retrieve such list which would bevisually displayed on a suitable read out device such as a cathode-raytube. This would enable the operator to locate the telephone extensionof any registered guest when only the guests name was known. Thisinformation would, of course, be available to the telephone operatorjust as soon as the guest registered.

it will be understood from the foregoing description that the inventioncontemplates the use of several items such as keyboards, cathode-raytubes, magnetic disc memory devices, etc., each of which is known per seand known to be electronically interconnected to achieve the functionsstated herein by the use of conventional circuits and electroniccomponents.

What is claimed is:

l. A system for use in a hotel or the like in inquiring into theidentity of an unknown person and in recording financial data concerningcharges incurred by that unknown person in the financial records of aknown person after making such inquiry, said system comprising:information storage means for storing descriptive information concerninga known person and financial charges incurred by that known person; afirst station comprising descriptive information-conveying means forconveying said descriptive information to said storage means;information retrieval means for retrieving said descriptive informationfrom said storage means; electronic visual display means for visuallydisplaying descriptive information retrieved from said storage means forproviding a visual basis for comparison with similar descriptiveinformation given by said unknown person to inquire into the identity ofsaid unknown person prior to recording financial charges incurred bysaid unknown person in the financial records of said known person; andfinancial information-conveying means for conveying financialinfonnation concerning said charges incurred by said unknown person tosaid storage means to record said charges as being incurred by saidknown person, and a second station remote from said first stationcomprising a further descriptive information conveying means forconveying descriptive information to said storage means and a furtherelectronic visual display means for displaying the descriptiveinformation conveyed to said storage means, said system furthercomprising print out means for printing out descriptive and financialinformation.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first station comprises asatellite station and said second station comprises a reception stationwithin the said hotel.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein said financialinformation-conveying means comprises a keyboard actuated means and saidelectronic display means comprises a cathoderay tube connected to saidkeyboard actuated means for displaying financial data entered into saidkeyboard actuated means and connected to said storage means fordisplaying information retrieved from said storage means.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said descriptiveinformation-conveying means and said financial informationconveyingmeans are combined in a single keyboard actuated unit.

5. A system as claimed in claim 4 further comprising at least onefurther said first station.

6. An accounting system for a hotel or the like for establishing aplurality of accounts, each distinguished by identifying data, selectingany one of said accounts according to the identifying data therefore,adding financial items into any selected account and summing andprinting out the contents of any selected account comprising: aninformation store, a first keyboard actuated means for generatingaccount identifying data, first display means associated with said firstkeyboard actuated means for displaying data generated by said firstkeyboard actuated means, means for transmitting the account identifyingdata generated by said first keyboard actuated means to said informationstore for entry therein, a second keyboard actuated means for generatingaccount identifying data, means for transmitting the account identifyinginformation generated by said second keyboard actuated means to saidinformation store for entry therein, first keyboard actuated means forgenerating financial data, means for transmitting said financial data tosaid infonnation store for entry therein, second display means fordisplaying both account identifying data and financial data, means forretrieving data from said information store and supplying the retrieveddata to said second display means for display thereby, third keyboardactuated means for generating account-identifying data, means fortransmitting the account-identifying information generated by saidsecond keyboard actuated means to said information store for entrytherein, print out means and means for retrieving data from saidinformation store and supplying the retrieved data to said print outmeans, said second keyboard actuated means for generatingaccount-identifying data, said first keyboard actuated means forgenerating financial data and said second display means being combinedat a single terminal located separately from the first keyboard actuatedmeans for generating account-identifying data and the associated firstdisplay means and located separately from the third keyboard actuatedmeans for generating account-identifying data and said print out means.

7. An accounting system as claimed in claim 6 wherein said singleterminal comprises a satellite terminal and said first keyboard actuatedmeans for generating account-identifying data and the associated firstdisplay means are located at a reception station remote from saidsatellite station.

1. A system for use in a hotel or the like in inquiring into theidentity of an unknown person and in recording financial data concerningcharges incurred by that unknown person in the financial records of aknown person after making such inquiry, said system comprising:information storage means for storing descriptive information concerninga known person and financial charges incurred by that known person; afirst station comprising descriptive information-conveying means forconveying said descriptive information to said storage means;information retrieval means for retrieving said descriptive informationfrom said storage means; electronic visual display means for visuallydisplaying descriptive information retrieved from said storage means forproviding a visual basis for comparison with similar descriptiveinformation given by said unknown person to inquire into the identity ofsaid unknown person prior to recording financial charges incurred bysaid unknown person in the financial records of said known person; andfinancial information-conveying means for conveying financialinformation concerning said charges incurred by said unknown person tosaid storage means to record said charges as being incurred by saidknown person, and a second station remote from said first stationcomprising a further descriptive information-conveying means forconveying descriptive information to said storage means and a furtherelectronic visual display means for displaying the descriptiveinformation conveyed to said storage means, said system furthercomprising print out means for printing out descriptive and financialinformation.
 2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said firststation comprises a satellite station and said second station comprisesa reception station within the said hotel.
 3. A system as claimed inclaim 2 wherein said financial information-conveying means comprises akeyboard actuated means and said electronic display means comprises acathode-ray tube connected to said keyboard actuated means fordisplaying financial data entered into said keyboard actuated means andconnected to said storage means for displaying information retrievedfrom said storage means.
 4. A system as claimed in claim 3 wherein saiddescriptive information-conveying means and said financialinformation-conveying means are combined in a single keyboard actuatedunit.
 5. A system as claimed in claim 4 further comprising at least onefurther said first station.
 6. An accounting system for a hotel or thelike for establishing a plurality of accounts, each distinguished byidentifying data, selecting any one of said accounts according to theidentifying data therefore, adding financial items into any selectedaccount and summing and printing out the contents of any selectedaccount comprising: an information store, a first keyboard actuatedmeans for generating account identifying data, first display meansassociated with said first keyboard actuated means for displaying datagenerated by said first keyboard actuated means, means for transmittinGthe account identifying data generated by said first keyboard actuatedmeans to said information store for entry therein, a second keyboardactuated means for generating account identifying data, means fortransmitting the account identifying information generated by saidsecond keyboard actuated means to said information store for entrytherein, first keyboard actuated means for generating financial data,means for transmitting said financial data to said information store forentry therein, second display means for displaying both accountidentifying data and financial data, means for retrieving data from saidinformation store and supplying the retrieved data to said seconddisplay means for display thereby, third keyboard actuated means forgenerating account-identifying data, means for transmitting theaccount-identifying information generated by said second keyboardactuated means to said information store for entry therein, print outmeans and means for retrieving data from said information store andsupplying the retrieved data to said print out means, said secondkeyboard actuated means for generating account-identifying data, saidfirst keyboard actuated means for generating financial data and saidsecond display means being combined at a single terminal locatedseparately from the first keyboard actuated means for generatingaccount-identifying data and the associated first display means andlocated separately from the third keyboard actuated means for generatingaccount-identifying data and said print out means.
 7. An accountingsystem as claimed in claim 6 wherein said single terminal comprises asatellite terminal and said first keyboard actuated means for generatingaccount-identifying data and the associated first display means arelocated at a reception station remote from said satellite station.